Ross Bridge townhome site plan 8-22-16

A request to rezone property along Alford Avenue in Bluff Park tonight received approval from the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission.

The request was submitted to rezone two parcels, totaling 8.96 acres, from an agricultural district to a Planned Residential Development district in order to accommodate 35 single-family homes.

Joey Miller, a civil engineer representing the property owner, said the lots would be 75 feet wide and homes would be between 2,500 and 2,800 square feet, almost double the city’s required minimum size of 1,500 square feet for that zoning classification.

Two years ago, the property owners proposed a plan to put a Walmart Neighborhood Market on the property in question, which is located near the corner of Alford Avenue and Tyler Road. However, they later withdrew the request after much opposition from the community.

The land is surrounded by Bluff Park United Methodist Church and St. Luke Korean Catholic Church, estate zoning, townhomes, agricultural zoning and the Bluff Park Village shopping center.

Miller said the single-family houses around Bluff Park Village and the townhomes across the street are both denser than the proposed development.

“There are some single-family, large residential lots that are kind of caddy-corner across the street, but it’s kind of a mixed area right there,” he said. “To me this is a very good transitional zoning because we’re backing up to the church and to a commercial shopping center, so to me it’s a good use of the property.”

Hoover resident Steve Ledger, who lives off of Shades Crest Road near the development, told the commission he believes the proposed development was too dense for what he described as a “mature, historic neighborhood.” The development could put a further strain on resources, including Bluff Park Elementary and the single-lane ingress and egress roads in that residential area, Ledger said.

Miller previously said the proposed development is expected to generate 140 vehicle trips per day.

Allowing a dense development could set a poor precedent for infill development, Ledger added.

“If Hoover Country Club, of which I’m a member, were to go bankrupt, as many golf clubs are doing these days such as Altadena, how would we look at the development there? If we took this precedent, can we imagine how many home sites would be built there?,” Ledger said.

Sid Lassiter, a resident of the Tyler Crest Townhomes across the street from the proposed development, said while they did not oppose the development, he and other residents had concerns. Their main concerns included stormwater runoff and maintaining a “reasonably safe” access to the townhomes, Lassiter said.

A gully behind the townhomes fills in current storms, he said, and residents worry it will overflow with excess runoff. Lassiter added, however, that the developer said they would help clean out the gully to prevent it overflowing. Miller said there would also be a retention pond at the new development to prevent excess runoff to other properties.

Because many people were upset at the proposed Walmart development, Lassiter said he saw the proposed subdivision as the best alternative for the land. In regard to density issues, Lassiter said the area was already dense, and the subdivision would not change that.

“It is what it is already, is what I’m trying to say,” he said. “The die has already been cast.”

The planning commission unanimously approved the rezoning request, and it now goes to the Hoover City Council for consideration.

Approved a request to allow 40 townhomes and a park across the street from the Ross Bridge Welcome Center in what Belcher said residents know as the “gravel lot.” Belcher said that during a meeting with residents, most seemed to believe the development would be OK. In conjunction with the townhomes, Signature Homes has agreed not to build any more multi-family dwellings in Ross Bridge. Previous agreements allowed for up to 110 more multi-family units, but those would be off the table with approval of the townhomes. Commissioner John Lyda said it was good to take the multi-family units off the table, and Zoning commission Chairman Mike Wood commended Belcher for "getting rid of the apartments.”

Sent a request for a car wash and detailing company off of Alabama 119 and Tattersall Drive near Greystone to the City Council without a recommendation. The request was submitted by Warren Bailey, representing Blue Rain Express Car Wash. A motion was made to deny the request, with three votes in favor of the motion and three against. The request will go on to the Hoover City Council presented as a tie vote. Community members who spoke in opposition of the car wash included a Greystone resident who said she and neighbors were “not ecstatic” about having a car wash backing up to their property and a man who said he received approval to build a car wash across the street in unincorporated Shelby County.

Approved a request from Jim and Lynn Estes to combine two lots into one in the Park Lane addition to Riverchase.

Approved a request from Tameron Honda to combine four lots on property along Sierra Drive into one lot.

Approved the resurvey of several lots in phase five of the Northampton portion of Ross Bridge.

Approved a request to reconfigure several lots in the commercial sector of Ross Bridge.

Delayed consideration of a request to divide one lot in the second sector of International Park into two lots until the Oct. 10 Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The resurvey would create ingress/egress utility and drainage easements for a road that Vestavia Hills wants to build to a new city park being developed on the former Altadena Valley Country Club property off Acton Road.